Inflammation –What you should know

When you think pain, think inflammation. Inflammation is a good thing. It’s your body’s way of rising up to fight out germs/bacteria/infections, heal bruises when you fall, heal torn ligaments/tissues/tendons etc. Once it does its job of fighting out these invaders or foreign organisms, the inflammation should reduce back down to normal. The problem arises when that does not happen.

Have a torn ligament or muscle pulls that your struggling to heal? Seen the best doctors, therapists etc and still not fixed? Struggling with arthritis and joint pain? Check your CRP (C-Reactive protein) levels and focus on reducing inflammation. The cure is in reducing inflammation.

Many of us live with chronic inflammation and that’s dangerous. It’s also one of the reason people –struggle to lose weight, experience excruciating joint pains, age faster than normal feel tired through the day, higher chances of cancer and heart disease, Fibromalgia / Headaches/Migraines, higher chances of Alzheimer’s/dementia, struggle with diabetes, feel depressed and low.

Silent inflammation like the ones described above can destroy your nerves and cellular health, suppressing and weakening your immune system, leading to deadly diseases like cancer, etc.

What’s scary is the fact that you can be extremely healthy and fit, but silent inflammation could be eating into you from inside, which is one of the many explainable reasons why cancer or heart attacks can strike down a healthy and young human being. Checking cholesterol levels, Vitamin D3, B12, SGOT, SGTP is imperative, but what most people miss out on is checking their CRP levels. (C-Reactive protein). This is an important protein level to check and a simple blood test will cover that for you. This level will tell you volumes about the amount of inflammation you have in your body.

In my years of experience what stands out in a cancer report of a person is an increase in CRP levels and white blood cells and the immediate action is to reduce inflammation thru food and lifestyle change. Diseases breathe in inflamed environments, in environments that are acidic and in environments where there is less oxygen supply to the cells.

Over training causes inflammation. Vigorous exercise, inconsistent exercise and high intensity training which is not planned for your body type will make your CRP levels soar and kill your immunity, which is why many trainers ask their clients to take a Vitamin C and E post workouts.

Smart and moderate exercise such as meditation and controlling your stress and BP levels, nuts and seeds, green leafy veggies and fruits, good fats ( like nuts, olive oil, coconut oil) helps in keeping your inflammation under check. Finally, I should not be saying this but it has been proven that a small amount of alcohol can actually lower CRP levels. Vitamin D3 , Curcumin (turmeric extract) is one of the best spice based inflammation fighters.

About Luke Coutinho

Head Nutritionist and Master Coach, motivational speaker, published Author of ‘Eat Smart, Move More, Sleep Right – Your personal health coach’, sold globally, Luke has been involved in nutrition and fitness even since he graduated from IHM with specialization in food science and nutrition. Luke is an ‘International Collaborator ‘with the University of Yale, Griffin – Prevention research center, CT, U.S.A and practices in the field of nutrition, health, preventive and alternative treatment. Luke speaks at forums like the YPO, WPO, EO, etc worldwide on disease, nutrition, fitness and lifestyle. He encourages and helps people steer away from conventional medicine and uses natural foods. He believes in a lifestyle change and helps and coaches people to make ‘shifts in their lifestyles to achieve their health goals.

2 years back
As of Nov 2017
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